Cass County Board: Planning and zoning permit activity growth begins to slow

   BIRCH LAKE TOWNSHIP— The third “road show” of the summer saw the board of commissioners at Birch Lake Township for their regular meeting Tuesday, July 19, where Environmental Services Director Jeff Woodford shared the second quarter planning and zoning activity report After the influx of activity the county saw in 2021, activity is finally slowing down and even may be plateauing, said Woodford, however activity is still above what the county saw in 2020. 

   First half statistics are as follows: zoning permits are up 7.84% over last year, from 842 to 908, however fees are down $12,924.52; variances are down from 43 in 2021 to 37 in 2022; conditional uses have also decreased from 15 issued in 2021 to 12 issued in 2022; and shoreland alterations decreased from 178 issued in 2021 to 99 being issued in 2022. First half revenue for the department was $270,581, which is a decrease of approximately 10% over last year’s amount of $300,011. 

   Woodford did mention even though activity was down for the first half of the year, second quarter showed an increase in activity for most areas over 2021 with shoreland alterations and reclassifications being the only areas showing a decrease during the second quarter.

   County Engineer Darrick Anderson brought three requests before the board for approval. The first request was to award the contract for work on County Road 103 from Leader to about three and a half miles east to Kern and Tabery Inc. in the amount of $1,781,564. Anderson stated this is Phase II of this project and is the same company that completed Phase I, all commissioners approved the request.

   The second request was to adopt a resolution establishing the 2022 Bridge Replacement Priority List. Anderson stated normally this list would be brought to the board at the beginning of the year, but due to a recent request from a Township the list needed to be updated. The resolution was unanimously adopted. 

   The final request from Anderson was regarding awarding a contract to Reierson Construction Inc. in the amount of $49,932 for the repair of County State Aid Highway 60. It was noted, this contract was for road repair from a broken water main that occurred last spring. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (LLBO) has been unable to secure a contractor to complete the work. Last week the LLBO council authorized the Cass County Highway Department to complete the work and in turn reimburse the county. Anderson stated quotes were obtained from two companies in order to get the work done more quickly and save significant taxpayer money. Reierson Construction came in as low bidder and was able to complete the work July 13. The board awarded the contract and was appreciative that Anderson and Administrator Josh Stevenson were able to work together on this timely matter and get the road open quickly for area residents.

   In other business, the county board:

   • Approved Luchachick Architecture to submit a permit, for a fee of $500, to the State of Minnesota in order to pursue the replacement of the flat roof at Deep Portage that was damaged during one of the spring storms.

   • Approved a letter of support for a grant application submitted to the State Broadband Funding by Consolidated Telecommunications Company for the expansion of broadband services in Sylvan Township.

   • Received and filed a report from Chief Financial Officer Sandra Norikane on the 2021 preliminary audit results and the 2022 budget to actual.

   The next meetings are as follows: Commissioner’s board meeting 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the boardroom in the courthouse annex in Walker and commissioner’s board meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 at Kego Township, Longville Fire Hall, 1350 County 5, Longville.